THE relationship between China and the Vatican is normalising despite finger-pointing over Taiwan's flag being on display at a World Youth Day meeting in Manila, a Hong Kong-based observer says.
Sister Beatrice Leung Kit-fun, a lecturer in the social sciences department of Lingnan College, said Beijing's silence after the Pope's message to Chinese Catholics on Saturday showed the normalisation process was in the 'last lap of the whole race'.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post this week, Liu Bonian, vice-president of the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, criticised the Vatican for letting Taiwan delegates at a Youth Day Mass to wave flags, saying this cast a shadow over Sino-Vatican relations.
Mr Liu referred to instances where the Taiwanese flag was flown alongside other nations' flags during the Youth Day gathering on Sunday. The gathering was highlighted by the Pope's four-day visit.
But Mr Liu declined to comment on the Pope's message on Saturday to the Church in China, which urged Chinese Catholics to unite under the guidance of the Vatican.
Mr Liu stressed the Chinese Church had always recognised the Pope as its religious leader.
Beijing severed diplomatic relations with the Vatican in the 1950s after the Holy See established formal relations with Taiwan. Recognition of papal primacy has been a key Vatican demand for renewal of ties with China.